Page 245 of Castings & Curses

He might be right, but I didn’t care about the brick wall. My mind was already racing with ideas. I mentally cataloged which plants would flourish with the perfect mix of shade and sunshine. There was so much potential, I was ecstatic.

“So who wants what room?” Mabe asked, having walked inside with everyone else.

I answered immediately. My magic had already bonded with the space and I was positive it was fate.

“This room is mine,” I said, claiming the one with the terrace.

Mabe snorted and walked off to take another. We spent the rest of the day moving our belongings, including the bookshelf, so we could go up and down at will.

I was making some iced lemonade and a dozen grilled cheese sandwiches. We’d all earned a treat, and I was too pooped to hike it down to the cafeteria.

The new lower level of our dorm room had a mini fridge and a microwave, but any real cooking would have to be done upstairs. I was fine with that since I liked it when we all ate together. Since I cooked, the others cleaned. We were all pretty fair about divvying up chores.

Arlo hadn’t called, and I felt sort of embarrassed by my desire to talk to him again. I really had to learn to read signals better. A kiss or two wasn’t anything to build castles on, and yet, I had. I excused myself from the others and went to my new room.

I kind of missed the double upstairs, but it was getting kind of crowded with all the mates unofficially moving in. Not that I minded. I mean, I wanted my friends to be happy and trying to keep mates apart was not the way to achieve that. However, there was something to be said about having not only my own space, but more of it.

After moving all my belongings from the upstairs double, I spent hours scrubbing every inch of my new room. I finally had the perfect window for the long gauzy curtains I’d made on a whim once upon a time, and they looked great, the golden-hued fabric looked lovely against the sage walls. After that, it was just a matter of making the bed, placing my little knickknacks about, and putting my clothes away in the long dresser that sat against the wall.

It was hard work, but my room now sparkled. I was kind of grimy, though, so I took a shower, scrubbing and shampooing until I felt clean as a whistle—whatever that meant.

Were whistles clean?

Didn’t they have, like spit, and other manky stuff on them?

Oh Goddess, I must be more tired than I thought. My mind always wandered when I’d worked hard or been at something too long.

The warm water sluiced over my aching body, and I frowned, thinking I would need help, putting the salve on my healing wounds. Maybe Enid or Mabe wouldn’t mind doing it.

Sighing, I exited the shower stall and wrapped a towel around my body, careful to leave it loose. Too tired to care much for my usual after shower routine, I finger combed my curly hair and walked into my bedroom, humming softly.

“You have a pretty voice, sweet Jade.”

I jumped. Arlo was crouched down by the window. He’d been looking at the various herbs and flowers I’d placed in planters to reap the benefits of my new shady window terrace, but now his eyes were on me, and they were glittering like the emerald earrings my mom favored.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, frozen in my bath sheet.

He stood up and walked toward me. I could not help backing up and bumping into the bed. Head cocked to the side, Arlo followed, undisturbed by my retreat.

“Thought you could use some help,” he murmured, raising his hand to show the salve.

“Oh! Right,” I replied, and turned around.

His warm fingers touched my shoulder, and I shivered. The fact I was naked beneath the oversized towel was heavy on my mind, but Arlo had been giving me so many mixed signals I wondered if he was even aware of that fact.

What would he do if I dropped the thing?

Would he politely ignore it?

Ask me to pick it up?

Tell me to lose weight?

Unfortunately, the latter had actually happened on one of the few dates I had ever been on. The young wizard was the son of one of my father’s business acquaintances. He’d asked me out after a business dinner, and I’d agreed happily.

I was flattered and excited, my first real date.

We dated for a while. He was attractive, and at first, he’d paid me lots of attention. He was my first. After that, things went downhill. He was shallow and cruel. It ended horribly, of course.

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